Local Earthquake Tomography for Imaging Mining-Induced Changes Within the Overburden Above a Longwall Mine

Details

• Personal Author:
  Luxbacher, Kray D. ; Swanson, Peter L. ; Westman EC
• Description:
  Three-dimensional velocity tomograms were generated on a daily basis to image mining-induced changes to the overburden above a longwall mine. The hypothesis was that a coherent redistribution of seismic velocity, due to the development of high-stress zones, could be imaged at the mine scale. Seam depth was 360 m and source location depth varied from 100 to 1000 m. Sixteen geophones were distributed over a 600 by 600 m square area on the surface above the mine. More than 12,500 events were recorded over an 18 day period. The recorded seismicity provided input for the local-earthquake tomography code, SIMULPS. Eighteen tomograms were generated and high-velocity regions correlated well with high abutment stresses. Additionally, the high-velocity regions were observed to redistribute as the longwall face retreated. These results indicate that velocity tomography can be used to provide a better understanding of temporal changes within a rock mass, and can potentially be used to produce a better understanding of the mechanisms that lead to unanticipated ground failures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Engineering Geology Mining Occupational Health Safety Software
• Keywords:
  Computer-models Engineering-controls Ground-control Ground-stability Longwall-mining Mining-industry Models Rock-mechanics Underground-mining
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Publisher:
  American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  SRL - Spokane Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034343
• Citation:
  42nd U.S. Rock Mechanics Symposium/2nd U.S.-Canada Rock Mechanics Symposium, June 29 - July 2, 2008, San Francisco, California Alexandria, VA: American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA), Paper No. 08-299, 2008 Jun; :1-7
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• NORA Priority Area:
  Mining
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fb1c66ee41145ac0374a14df6bd05af767adc97f6ec09963b1d939160349ddbadbfe6129dff0b6ea36814b06889dd0be0a1942f98129f836f05aedc5d3bdf81b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/226996/cdc_226996_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 284.42 KB ]